Carrying signs saying “I’m not a piggy bank” and “Are these numbers even real?”, about 50 students rallied in front of Johnson Hall last Wednesday to protest another proposed tuition hike — this one even higher than last year’s.

This isn’t an unfamiliar scene at University of Oregon: Over the last decade, tuition and fees at the UO increased by almost $5,000 for in-state students and nearly $14,000 for non-resident students. Last year, UO students disrupted a Board of Trustees meeting demanding a tuition freeze.

ASUO members and other students protested another tuition increase in front of Johnson Hall on Feb. 3 (Taylor Wilder/Emerald).

Two days before the rally on Feb. 3, the UO’s advisory board on tuition proposed a 4.76 percent tuition increase for resident students and 4.46 percent for non-residents in the next school year. That translates to an extra $484 annually for a full-time resident student and $1,428 for a non-resident student taking 15 credits a term.

But student leaders don’t just have a problem with rising tuition. They don’t feel like they’re part of the process.

ASUO President Helena Schlegel and ASUO Finance Director Shawn Stevenson left a Jan. 28 Tuition and Fee Advisory Board meeting early to attend class. The two student student representatives on the board thought they’d be able to keep battling against the tuition increase being proposed.

But a few days later, administration cancelled all further meetings via email, saying they were under a deadline. Vice President of Student Life Robin Holmes called Schlegel and said the only remaining opportunity for student input would be at a forum 48 hours later.

“I was never informed that last week’s meeting was the last meeting,” Schlegel said. “We were under the assumption that there would be another opportunity to talk about these proposed increases before a forum and final recommendation.”

Schlegel and Stevenson had been pushing for no more than a 3.5 percent increase.

“I think we should get clear on when votes should be taken and how people can feel included,” University Provost Scott Coltrane said after the forum.

But students say the problem is more than a lack of communication, and many leaders think the university isn’t listening to them.

Students rally in front of Johnson Hall on Feb. 3 to protest a tuition hike. (Taylor Wilder/Emerald)

A promise of a better education

The tuition hike is expected to cover 80 percent of the university’s projected $17.5 million increase in budget, according to information gathered by the tuition advisory board.

Nathan Stevens, a UO senior, speaks out about his disenfranchisement with the University of Oregon (Taylor Wilder/Emerald).

UO ran a $10 million deficit last year, according to Vice President of Finance and Administration Jamie Moffitt. This year, the budget is balanced in part due to last year’s tuition increase.

“Tuition has to pay for most of what we do,” Coltrane said at the forum. “What we want to do is to contain that and keep it low as possible.”

Ten percent of the increasing tuition will go toward financial aid and scholarships. UO will also invest in advising and course offerings to help students graduate faster.

UO expects to put $7.6 million toward better pay for faculty, service workers and staff. In addition to faculty salaries, UO wants to spend $2.75 million to improve the school’s information technology, including the on-campus Wi-Fi network.

Schlegel said the hike is not worth it.

“We pay more; we go more into debt,” Schlegel said. “Then we are less likely to succeed in the long run because we are in so much debt.”

This hike pits student government against administration

There are five steps to raising tuition at UO, and one includes getting student input through a forum early in the process.

Most of the members on the board are faculty and staff: There are four students, but two of them don’t regularly attend meetings, Schlegel said.

“I think that it’s a huge gap in equal representation,” Schlegel said.

At last Wednesday’s open forum, dozens of students criticized the university. ASUO officer Natalie Fisher said her options are limited as tuition keeps rising.

“I’m an in-state student … but I still have $20,000 in debt,” Fisher said. “My options are to pay more or to leave.”

Amy Schenk, who serves on the executive level of the ASUO along with Schlegel and Stevenson, pointed out a contradiction between President Schill’s speech almost two weeks ago on making college accessible for everyone and this hike.

“I find it ironic that we are promoting accessibility while increasing tuition at the same time,” Schenk said.

Though the ASUO president has the option of submitting a competing tuition proposal to the Board of Trustees, Schlegel is skeptical the board would listen.

“We want students to have a voice, and we want to know what’s going on at the UO,” Schlegel said. “But at the end of the day … they might not listen to us ever.”